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UNITED NATIONS Cheap Nike Air Max 97 Silver Bullet , Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Annual deaths from measles dropped below 100,000 to 90,000 for the first time last year, United Nations and other international agencies reported on Thursday.


"We have seen substantial drop in measles deaths for more than two decades, but now we must strive to reach zero measles cases," said Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele, Director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, in a joint statement on Thursday for the Measles and Rubella Initiative (MR&I).


The study, published by MR&I, a partnership formed in 2001 between the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), WHO, UN Foundation, American Red Cross, and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marks the first time that global measles deaths have fallen below 100,000 per year.


"Measles elimination will only be reached if measles vaccines reach every child, everywhere," added Okwo-Bele.


Since 2000, an estimated 5.5 billion doses of measles-containing vaccines have been provided to children through routine immunization services and mass vaccination campaigns, saving an estimated 20.4 million lives.


However, the world is still far from reaching regional measles elimination goals.


According to the joint statement, people being treated with the first of two vaccine-required doses have stalled at approximately 85 percent since 2009, far short of the 95 percent coverage needed to stop the infections, and coverage with the second dose, despite recent increases, was only 64 percent in 2016.


Some 20.8 million children are still missing their first measles vaccine dose, more than half of whom live in six countries. Nigeria has 3.3 million unvaccinated children; India has 2.9 million; Pakistan, 2 million; Indonesia, 1.2 million; Ethiopia, 0.9 million; and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 0.7 million are not immunized.